Poor teachers have been allowed to prosper while the best teachers too often
see their talent go unrewarded

Hostility from the teaching unions to any proposal for school reform is normally an indication that the plan has merit. So it is with Michael Gove’s decision to press ahead with performance-related pay for teachers. From September, schools in England and Wales will abandon the existing staff salary structure that effectively guarantees an automatic annual pay rise for all teachers, regardless of merit. Head teachers will instead be given the power to set salary levels that not only recognise the abilities of their staff through annual appraisals but also reflect conditions in the local teacher recruitment market.

Teachers claim, unconvincingly, that such a merit-based system, which is commonplace in the private sector, will lead to “discrimination and unfairness”. They are also angry at being singled out for such treatment – there are no such proposals for other parts of the public sector, such as hospitals or prisons. But there is good reason for that. The system of automatic advancement has a deleterious effect on teaching. It allows poor teachers to prosper while the best teachers too often see their talent go unrewarded.

The Education Secretary says he wants the best teachers to be paid more without having to leave the classroom by seeking headships. The new set-up will also make it easier for good teachers to move between schools, creating a real market in teacher talent. This is all to the good. The current system allows too many under-performing teachers to coast through their careers with head teachers almost powerless to do anything about it. The new structure will give heads far greater powers over their own schools and that can only be to the benefit of the pupils. Performance pay is not just about the setting of salary levels; it should also be the catalyst for a wide-ranging cultural change in the teaching profession.